


Just Another MT

by PeanutButterKohai



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Minor Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum, Poor Prompto, mild slash if you squint, mostly just sads, slightly happy ending???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 03:20:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12832233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeanutButterKohai/pseuds/PeanutButterKohai
Summary: After rescuing Prompto, everyone decides to stop for a rest but Prompto's not as ok as he let on.I felt like this was kind of glossed over a little bit (in the interest of forwarding the story of course) but this is a little bit more in depth look at Prompto's feelings on learning about his origins.Spoilers for Chapter 13





	Just Another MT

**Author's Note:**

> Just more of me being mean to Prompto... OTL Sorry sweet sunshine boy!

The beds in Zegnautus keep were hard and lumpy. There wasn’t a position one could lay in without laying on some kind of bump, but to Prompto, the bed felt as soft as Noctis’ luxuriously expensive mattress in the Citadel. Honestly even the ground would have felt comfortable at this point. It just felt good to be  _ horizontal.  _ Every joint still ached in reminder of how long he spent strapped in an upright position. Memories of which sent a shudder running down the blond’s spine. Memories of struggling feebly until his wrists bled. Of trying to find some position that didn’t hurt every bone in his body. Of stewing in his own desperation of  _ are they even coming for me? Am I going to die like this? _ And memories of agonising over the truth about himself. The truth about his origins.

 

He might have been lacking the signature metal armour and terrifying, glowing, red eyes, but Prompto Argentum was born- no,  _ created _ to be a Magitek trooper. A merciless, soulless soldier for the Nifleheim army. Maybe soldier was the wrong word. Soldier implied humanity but the Troopers they had faced often over the course of their adventures were really anything but human. They were more like machines than people. But it was impossible to shake the newly gained knowledge that beneath every emotionless face masks there were people, and not just any people. People that looked just like Prompto. Created in the same laboratory with the same genes and physical features. The only real difference between Prompto and every single other trooper was that Prompto was removed from the lab while the others were left at the mercy of Chief Besethia.

 

The really horrifying realization being that it could have been any of the others instead of him. If one of the others had been rescued, it would have been him in a suit, fighting against Noctis, Ignis and Gladio, and being cut down by Noctis’ engine blade. The prince wouldn’t have given it a second thought. Or maybe he would have be gunned down by a  _ different _ Prompto. One that was saved. One that wore his face and his clothes. Walking round with  _ his _ camera and  _ his _ friends and  _ his _ life. 

 

He wasn’t Prompto because he was different than the others. He wasn’t special. He didn’t have anything more or less than the others. He just got lucky.

 

And  _ that _ was the reason that, despite his achingly exhausted body, Prompto was laying wide awake staring at the bunk above him. He had feigned sleep just long enough for the others to fall asleep, lying stiff and unmoving, not even bothering to crawl under the blankets. At some point earlier, he felt the bed shift as someone sat down on the edge of the bed behind him. He couldn’t explain how he knew it was Noctis, but somehow he did. He managed not to tense up further and the feeling of Nocts fingers, feather light, ghosting over his arm. Dragging lightly over his skin from shoulder to elbow before withdrawing. He heard his friend draw a breath before the same fingers brushed lightly against his jaw and then retreated once again and the weight on the bed behind him disappeared. Any other time, Prompto would have found the gesture comforting but for some reason it only filled him with a sense of guilt. After all he’d done nothing earn that affection. Nothing any other Prompto wouldn’t have done.

 

He was entirely replaceable. There was an entire laboratory  _ full _ of replacement Promptos. Replacement “best-friend-of-the-prince”’s. Hundreds of happy-go-lucky, jokers with an eye for photography and a “laundry list of hangups”. Prompto had always felt useless and inferior but he supposed he could add “replaceable” to his list now. 

 

He curled up on his side with a huff burying his face in the flat, stale smelling pillow.

 

The bed behind him squeaked loudly and Prompto froze.

 

“Sounds like you can’t sleep either.” came the soft, hesitant voice of the prince.

 

He had assumed Noct was asleep but the guy had a tendency to sleep like the dead. On top of that, he also had a habit of falling asleep wherever he was. Be it in class, or on the couch in his apartment while watching a movie with Prompto. Even once in the car on the way home from school. But unlike most people, the prince was  _ bizarrely _ still while he slept, breathing almost imperceptibly. The first time Noctis passed out without warning, he had been watching Prompto play Assasin’s Creed and then suddenly, was out like a light. The blonde was convinced that his friend had up and died on him and called Ignis in a panic. The advisor had assured the hysterical boy that it was completely normal and that the prince was not, in fact, dead.

 

All of this meant that Noctis was the hardest to assess when it came to sleep. Gladio snored like an angry garula and Ignis’ deep even breaths, while not particularly loud were always an easy tell. Since Prompto hadn’t heard any shifting around from the Prince, he’d assumed that the other male had drifted off. Clearly he was wrong.

 

Prompto opened his mouth to respond but found himself at a loss. What was he supposed to say? “ _Yeah I’m up because every time I hear something pass by the door, I can’t help but think about how it’s a different Prompto in MT armour”_. Or “ _Actually, yeah I’m not doing so hot, but I bet one of those Promptos is in better condition so why don’t you just grab the next one that passes and carry on?”_

 

No neither of those would go over very well so he opted for shutting his mouth and making a noncommittal noise in the back of his throat. There was a moment of silence the air thick with an unusual awkwardness that Prompto hadn’t felt between them in years. Not since they were first getting to know each other.

 

“‘Mm fine Noct. Get some rest.” he mumbled trying to ease the prince’s worry and shoo him back to his own bunk. 

 

Unfortunately, Noct was never very good at picking up on subtle cues and instead decided to get up from his own bunk lay down on the bed behind Prompto. The position reminded Prompto suddenly of the many nights he stayed over his friend’s during high school and sharing the Prince’s large, cushy bed. There was another moment of silence and Prompto imagined Noct was probably biting his fingernails, which he did when he was nervous or uncomfortable (and Ignis absolutely hated it).

 

“You don’t… Sound fine, Prom.” came the quiet response from his friend.

 

“Yeah well…” Prompto forced a laugh, trying to inject some levity. “You know…” His throat felt tight.

 

“No not really….” Noct huffed and shuffled around behind him. “But if you wanna tell me about it… You can?”

 

Prompto’s eyes stung from the amount of concern in his friend’s voice. Concern that he had no right to cause. He was also painfully aware that talking about emotions and what not wasn’t exactly Noct’s strong suit, but he was putting in the effort for him. The crown prince of Lucis had no business wasting his energy on some dime a dozen MT trooper. Another uncomfortable thought crossed his mind.

 

What if he was defective?

 

There was a very real chance that the other… Prompto’s… Actually  _ weren’t _ just like him. Maybe, if given the chance, they would have been  _ better  _ than him. They never would have been the lonely fat kid that had to earn his place at Noctis’s side. They wouldn’t have the same ridiculous insecurities and easily influenced emotional states. They were probably better fighters too. Probably smarter. And probably so much less  _ fake _ . They wouldn’t have to cultivate a wall of smiles and bad jokes to hide the ever present undercurrent of anxiety. They wouldn’t have to throw a camera up between themselves and everyone else to keep anyone from figuring out the facade.

 

He tried again to say something to reassure his friend but all that came out was a weird  strangled noise. The bed shifted again and Noct placed a hand on Prompto’s arm gently coaxing him to roll over. Prompto let himself be pulled along but trained his stinging eyes immediately on the ceiling.

 

“Hey…” Noct said softly, trying to get his attention. Prompto swallowed and turned his gaze hesitantly to the other male. Noct looked so concerned and it only made the knot in Prompto’s gut tighter. “It alright, you know… To not be ok…”

 

Prompto’s eyes widened a fraction and before he knew it warm tears were spilling over and soaking into the pillow behind him. Noctis immediately bundled the blond into his arms, pulling their bodies flush.

 

“It’s ok. You’re safe, Prom.” he soothed rubbing comforting circles on the smaller male’s back.

They stayed like that for a while, tangled in each others limbs and Prompto’s face pressed into the fabric of Noct’s shirt, soaking it with tears. The prince didn’t seem to mind though as he just continued to alternate between smoothing Prompto’s hair and rubbing his back.

 

Once his sobs had subsided, Prompto pulled back slightly to scrub one hand over his face, mildly mortified by the big wet patch on his friends shirt.

 

“.... Better?” Noctis prompted.

 

“Yeah.. Thanks Noct.” Prompto reassured. He felt less shaky and unstable but the guilt was still lurking in the back of his mind. Noct was passing up  _ sleep _ to look after him.  _ Would he still go out of his way if he knew he could just replace you? _ It was a ridiculous thought that he tried to shake off but.. Was it  _ really _ that ridiculous?

 

“Sure…” the prince replied sounding distracted. Prompto turned his gaze to the prince’s face but he was looking somewhere over the top of Prompto’s head worrying at his bottom lip.

 

“I’m gonna kill him.” he said suddenly.

 

Prompto blinked up at his friend. “Who? Ardyn?”

 

Noctis didn’t answer and just continued to stare at the far wall with a sudden dark look on his delicate features which Prompto didn’t like at all.

 

“I mean yeah, dude, that’s… The plan.” Prompto tried giving a half hearted laugh.

 

“Did he hurt you?”

 

The question was so blunt Prompto was taken aback for a moment. He took a breath and leaned his forehead against Noct’s collarbone, trying to not think too much about the subject. “Yes.” he answered bluntly.

 

Noct’s arms tightened around him briefly before releasing again with a heavy exhale from the prince.

 

“Why do I get the feeling that’s not what you’re upset about, though.”

 

Prompto pulled back again to blink at the prince in surprise. Noctis still wouldn’t meet his gaze but freed one hand to drag through his hair.

 

“In all the time I’ve known you… I think I’ve learned to tell when you’re upset about something and.... Apparently it’s not that so…”

 

“Noct..” Prompto started.

 

“I’m just-” he let out a frustrated growl. “I’m just trying to say you can talk to me! You don’t always have to just bottle everything up ok??”

 

The blond let out a snort and Noctis looked down at him in surprise.

 

“Sorry dude you just… Sound so mad about trying to help me.” Prompto sniggered.

 

Noctis let out a huff, frustration evaporating at the sight of blondes signature smile, and let his hand fall back to Prompto’s hair.

 

“Sorry I don’t know how to do this..” he waved his hand lamely. “..talking thing… It’s hard, ok.”

 

“No I know, I know.” Prompto reassured. “Thanks… For trying but…” he took a breath, “I don’t think I’m ready to talk about everything yet.. You know? I’m still sorta.. Processing everything myself...”

 

Noct’s fingers curled into his hair and the prince gently pressed his lips to the other’s forehead. “Ok.” he agreed softly. “But when you’re ready, I’m here to listen.”

 

He could just tell him. Bare his soul right then and there and Noct would tell him he was being ridiculous. That he was his best friend and he wasn’t replaceable-

 

Wouldn’t he?

 

It was that shred of doubt that made Prompto clamp his mouth shut and nod, wordlessly to acknowledge his friend’s offer.

 

_ Maybe _ , he thought,  _ one day, I’ll find the courage to tell him everything. _

 

He’d never get that opportunity.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah so... Apparently I don't know how to write happy endings.. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ Thanks for reading!


End file.
